Chinaâ€™s Stock-Index Futures Fall Before Inflation Data

China™s stock-index futures fell before the release of inflation data.

Futures on the CSI 300 Index expiring in February, the most active contract, slipped 0.1 percent to 3,359.80 as of 9:27 a.m. local time. Consumer prices probably rose 1 percent in January from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.5 percent gain a month earlier, according to the median estimate of a Bloomberg survey. Declines in producer prices accelerated to 3.8 percent from 3.3 percent in December, the survey showed. The report is scheduled to be released at 9:30 a.m.

The data will add to concern demand is weakening and that further monetary easing is needed to sustain growth in the world™s second-biggest economy. Data for January showed imports falling by the most in more than five years, manufacturing gauges signaling a contraction and services expanding at the weakest pace in six months.

The Shanghai Composite is down 8.5 percent from a five-year high set on Jan. 26 after the regulators tightened rules on margin trading to cool the market. Still, the measure has jumped 51 percent over the past year, the second-best performer among 93 global benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.